Here's How Much It Costs To Use Your Indicators Over The Course Of A Year

Someone with - presumably - a lot of time on their hands has calculated the annual costs of using your turn signals...

Updated: 14 Aug 2017

We’ve all heard those jokes about owners of cars from a certain German brand not using their indicators, but how much money might someone save by neglecting to use their turn signals over the course of a year? Well, believe it or not, this guy’s done the math.

There are obviously many variables to consider, but the uploader of this YouTube video has come up with an average figure of 21 - 29 cents for the USA and 57 cents in Europe, bearing in mind power consumption, fuel costs, average use and much more besides. So, while the figures should probably be taken with a little pinch of salt, the general answer is not that much.

The figure drops further for modern LED light clusters, which consume considerably less energy than old-school bulbs.

The more you know…

Via Reddit Cars

Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.

Comments

And Diskloks save you an average of [car value here] a year. It’s official, Disklok is cheaper than indicating.

#cheekydisklok strikes again

So if a Disklok is cheaper than indicating, does that mean I can get a Disklok for under 57 cents? Because if so, sign me up!

BMW drivers will be happy to hear that.

So people who own a car from that ‘certain German brand’ can use this as an excuse because they are all business exec’s so every penny counts.

I hope this guy realizes that when your engine is running, it literally makes no difference to your gas mileage wether to use blinkers or not because once your battery is charged to full, your alternator will not overcharge it and thus it’s basically spinning the extra energy as wasted energy. But using blinkers will use this wasted energy so the real math is, you’ll be SAVING 30 cents by using your blinkers.

I have a quick note:
You’re right in saying that the alternator will not overcharge the battery. It has a regulator which allows it to sense when it needs to provide charge and when it does not.

That being said, when it needs to charge, it will become parasitic, and it will require more effort from the engine to turn.

If you turn an alternator by hand that has no electrical load on it, it’s easy, but if you try turning an alternator that’s trying to charge, it will become much more difficult.

Having considered his Youtube content, I don’t think he’s worried about wasted energy…

I think he forgot to factor one other thing in that makes using those indicators that much more costly:

This is exactly why we have BMWs.

BMW drivers drive free I guess

I’m glad that when i buy a used bmw the indicators will be like factory condition

I know it’s unrelated but can I just point out that in my dad’s E36, the indicators are used ALL the time! (Yes, with the stalk and not just the hazard lights) And I’ve seen other BMWs use theirs as well. The stereotype is really starting to get on my nerves and it’s simply an internet joke that’s simply not true.

Just wanted to clear that up.

oh I thought no bmw drivers used their blinkers. Its people like you that keeps jokes alive, its no fun making fun of someone if you dont get a reaction.